The new California brand Riviera Club came together as three friends — Joe Sadler, Derek Buse and Greg Ullery — combined their individual strengths to create something new. The launch collection (which is seen in the images below) is inspired by the real life adventures of surfer and wayward rich-kid Bunker Spreckels and the company’s home base of Santa Barbara, California.

I first met Joe, Derek and Greg a few months ago and was impressed by the clothing — not to mention the people. While the guys were in NYC we ended up hanging out, having a few beers and talking about how everything started and how the line is coming along. It all goes back to something I have said before, good people making good things. Since my first opportunity to see the line I have been telling people it is one of the best new brands I have seen in a long time. The line is wearable, made from great fabrics, has good detailing and smart fits. The kicker is, all of it is made in California. As far as prices go, the shirting retails for $155; outerwear from $175 – $195; shorts range from $115 – $155.

Since the focus of ACL can drift to seasons far away, I decided to wait to do a post about Riviera Club until it was actually hitting stores — even if that meant seeing it on some other blogs. I really like the clothes, as well as the gentlemen involved and hope they do well with their new endeavor. You can check out Riviera Club at Saturdays in NYC, Blackbird in Seattle and Ron Herman in sunny L.A.

27 Comments

The gentlemen at Spurr invited me (and you by proxy) over to the showroom to get a little advance look at the new AW10 Spurr collection. Simon took some time out of a busy Friday preparing for the brand’s first full-scale fashion show (which will take place on February 14th) to personally walk me through the collection. (That was nice of him.) At the fashion show, the company will present two different collections (also a first for the brand), the contemporary Spurr range (which is shown in the photos below), as well as the new higher-end Simon Spurr line.

In good company

10 Comments

Last night the gentlemen from Odin and Duckie Brown held a small cocktail party to toast their new collaborative men’s line Edward. The capsule collection, which was on display at the gathering, is a desirable mix of goods that would fit any modern man’s wardrobe. From the fatigue green waxed M-65 jacket to the woven shirts with their micro-collars (as Eddy Chai described them), Edward is firing on all cylinders. And the best part about the modest 17 piece collection is the value for money. Nothing in the Edward range retails for over 500 bucks and all of it is made in America. So tell me, who can’t use a new pea coat for fall, or a nice tweed sport coat? And anything military inspired in waxed canvas just goes without saying. The good news is you won’t have to wait five months to get this stuff, actually you won’t even have to wait until the announced November 1st drop. Our sources tell us the line will be in Odin stores this coming weekend. If you head by look for us, we’ll be in line.

25 Comments

Friday’s Times ran a photo of Lloyd Blankfein, chairman of Goldman Sachs, who’s perhaps the savviest, most well-connected money man in the country. The news was Goldman’s ice cold $3 billion third quarter profit, but what struck us was the sight of Mr. Blankfein leaving the last button of his suit cuff unbuttoned. Long favored by Italians all the way up the corporate chain of command, the deliberately unstudied style was embodied by Gianni Agnelli, the iconic head of Fiat. Though we’ve long felt that American CEO’s should learn at the Agnelli altar, the sight of Mr. Blankfein roused certain sartorial misgivings.

30 Comments

Part of my obsession with autumn is the fact that you need to own coats, sweaters and all sorts of other gear to protect you from the rain and chill. I’ve never lived anywhere but the Midwest and Northeast where coats are a necessity and a way of life. And for whatever reason, when I shop I tend to repeatedly aim my discretionary-income at two things, coats and bags. So when I first heard about Veilance — the sleek new collection from Vancouver based Arc’teryx that is hitting stores this week — it was clear that come fall I would be up to my old tricks and adding a Veilance jacket to my already stuffed coat closet. The debut range combines everything the folks at Arc’teryx have learned over the years about performance gear and combined that technical know-how with more stylish and classic shapes like the Long Coat and the M-65 inspired Field Jacket pictured below. I love the idea of pairing a Gore-Tex shell with a suit and not having to look like I just got off a ski lift. At the same time you know that you are going to be protected from the the elements and look stealthy doing it.

The Long Coat from Veilance

26 Comments

Speaking of Japan. The Beams catalog magically appeared in my office yesterday and I couldn’t help but to scan so you guys can see what the well dressed 2% are up to this fall. (If you are wondering what I am talking about, go read the comments in That Autumn Look | Turning Japanese and it will make more sense.) As usual, I’m loving the Beams+ gear and the styling looks nice. Good luck trying to pull off a safari jacket in the United States, but it is fun to look at nonetheless.

21 Comments

The folks at Steven Alan teamed up with the Ironwood, Michigan based Stormy Kromer Mercantile on a small collection of caps in the company’s classic shape. Normally a fall and winter staple, Steven Alan decided to produce them for SS10 in warm weather friendly fabrics. It is good to see two American List companies collaborating and updating a classic. With cold weather coming our way soon (speaking to my east coast people), I’ll be okay with wearing my wool Kromer until next spring when these puppies are available.

6 Comments

I did the math, and this past week was my tenth trip to the desert for the apparel trade shows. Once you have been to Magic / Project / Capsule one time you are pretty much good for the rest of your life. So needless to say going ten times is aggressive. That said, I do enjoy seeing old friends and making new ones while surrounded by senior citizens blowing their Social Security checks at the slots. Since my pain is your pleasure I have good news and bad news for you. The good news: below are some of the fun things that I saw this past week. The bad news: most of this stuff won’t be available for until next spring.

Shoes from SeaVees.

15 Comments

What’s not to like about a collection of oxford shirts and ties. Lucky for us Mr. Mark McNairy is not content with just making footwear. The North Carolina bred designer stopped by my office this week to give me a preview of his collection of SS10 oxford shirts and ties that are launching at Capsule next week in Las Vegas. The line includes a selection of button-down shirts in white, pink, yellow, blue, stripes, and a group of mix-matched fabrics. The tie selection consists of bows and neck ties in emblematic and repp stripe silks. There are also some nice looking madras options — which will be in my rotation next summer. Since McNairy is ACL’s non-official yet oh-so-official spiritual adviser, these quality goods are all made in the USA with liberty and oxford cloth for all.

27 Comments

I snuck over to the Rogues Gallery NYC showroom the other day to check out the new collection. When everyone wasn’t paying attention I snapped a few shots of the space and the some SS10 goodies. I really liked the washed knits that were on display, note to self buy washed knits when they hit stores. Just being in the showroom makes me feel like I’m in the company’s shop in Portland. The space is really well done, which is not really a surprise considering Rogues founder Alex Carleton’s taste. (RIP Men’s Vogue.)

In other news if you haven’t heard, friend of ACL and all around gentleman Aaron Levine has left his post as design director for Hickey to become the creative director of Rogues Gallery. This is a coup for the fellas at Rogues and I can’t wait to see what Aaron has in store for us.

25 Comments

I get excited to go over to the Burkman Brothers studio for two reasons, first the elevator is manually operated and that is cool and second the clothes are excellent. The word on the street is that the Burkman Brothers collection performed well at stores over these past two seasons and all in a shitty economy. It makes sense to me why the collection does well at retail, the fabrics are interesting and attractive, the fit is good and the details are subtle yet interesting. I first met the brothers Burkman this past February and have been impressed with their collection ever since.

11 Comments